Granola / Muesli

Jjjjjjjbarry

Hello,

Is there such a thing as healthy granola? I spent ages in Tesco looking for one that didn't have sugar added as a main ingredient and failed to find one.

Muesli - same as, well I tried to find one that was wheat free but when I found one, they all seemed to have added sugar.

Just looking for an alternative to porridge as i'm not too keen on making it in the microwave in work every day.

Can you make your own muesli, is it just raw porridge oats mixed with fruits and nuts? Hmmm i might google muesli recipes.

waterfaerie

The problem is that "granola" has become popular which means there is so much rubbish being marketed as granola that's actually nothing like real granola at all.

Yes, you can absolutely make your own. I'm no expert but I did look into it before and it seems to be easy enough. You should find plenty by googling.

Maldesu

Pretty easy to make. Just monitor the oils and sugars you use if your toasting the flakes. And try remember the sugar content in any dried fruits you use - a little goes a long way.

igCorcaigh

I find the Dorset Cereals brand of muesli very good. They also do granola. Can be a bit pricey though.

But you can easily make your own; muesli is just rolled oats with nuts, seeds and dried fruits.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5126/sevencup-muesli?amp

rubadub

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Can you make your own muesli, is it just raw porridge oats mixed with fruits and nuts? Hmmm i might google muesli recipes.

Yes, you can also just "dilute" a museli you like with porridge oats (rolled, not pinhead oats of course!). Or dilute other cereals. I used to add a pecan crunch cereal to porridge oats, the crunch mix was far too sweet & crunchy on its own.

Many dried fruits have added sugar, which is madness, I got ones in holland & barrett and never checked as it never occurred to me that some nutcase would add sugar to already naturlly concentrated sugar food items.

No need for dried fruit anyway, it just prolongs shelflife, cutting up fresh fruit might be nicer and more filling. You can get chopped fruit in frozen "smoothie" mixes now too, just add it to milk a while before and it will defrost, and also have really chilled milk which some prefer.

grahamor

This is a great recipe for Granola - https://www.nigella.com/recipes/andys-fairfield-granola

It calls for apple sauce or compote which is just peeled cooking apples cut up and stewed.

You could omit the sugar and use more honey instead. Same for nuts/seeds, mix and match with whatever you have.

Make a big batch and it would last 2 weeks.

caviardreams

grahamor wrote: »

This is a great recipe for Granola - https://www.nigella.com/recipes/andys-fairfield-granola

It calls for apple sauce or compote which is just peeled cooking apples cut up and stewed.

You could omit the sugar and use more honey instead. Same for nuts/seeds, mix and match with whatever you have.

Make a big batch and it would last 2 weeks.

That recipe looks insanely high in sugar imo if you are looking for a healthier option - brown rice/golden syrup, honey, plus lots of sugar from the raisins and applesauce too.

Also honey is not really any healthier/more nutritious than sugar.

igCorcaigh

Granola is never going to be a healthy food anyway.

It's the reddy brek of porridge, innit.

caviardreams

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Granola is never going to be a healthy food anyway.

It's the reddy brek of porridge, innit.

Yes but I think the point was you can make it yourself by not using any/minimal sugar and making substitutions.

Ready Brek is actually pretty decent as cereals go tbh - it is just oats and oat flour I think - no added sugar etc.

rubadub

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Granola is never going to be a healthy food anyway.

It's the reddy brek of porridge, innit.

what do you mean by that, i.e. "reddy brek of porridge"?

here is ready brek original ingredients

Ingredients

Wholegrain Rolled Oats (60%), Wholegrain Oat Flour (38%), Calcium, Niacin, Iron, Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin B6, Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12

no added sugar at all. From your post I get the impression you think it is junk or something.

It is not unusual but I find it quite odd since many people seem to think ready brek and weetabix have loads of added sugar or something, simply since their names are not particular "healthy" or being marketed as "healthy", when in fact the ones people think/presume are a "better choice" are way worse. e.g. "special K" or "all bran". Maybe people are simply not actually reading the actual info on the packs and just get "impressions" from ads and the front of packs. Many are horrendously ignorant, no real shame in that unless they are spouting stuff, giving the impression like they though they do know the real figures.

My theory is people see weetabix & ready brek as "kids cereals", and so wrongly presume they are relatively high in sugar. I have seen people in work look weirdly at others eating ready brek, as though "jesus, thats kids stuff", I have got the same look eating fish fingers!

weetabix

Ingredients

Wholegrain Wheat (95%), Malted Barley Extract, Sugar, Salt, Niacin, Iron, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid

so it has added sugar but is overall 4.4% sugar, which includes naturally occurring sugar.

Now all bran

Ingredients

Wheat Bran (87%), Sugar, Barley Malt Flavouring, Salt, Vitamins & Minerals: Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B

18% sugar, again including naturally occurring stuff. Note the wheat bran is a mere 87%, leaving a potentially far higher "sugar" % which they chose not to reveal.

Now special K

Ingredients

Rice (46%), Wholewheat (37%), Sugar, Barley (5%), Malted Barley Flour (3.5%), Barley Malt Flavouring, Salt, Vitamins & Minerals: Niacin, Iron, Zinc, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12

laughable!!! they declare the barley and barley flour % but not the sugar!!!

So the sugar is somewhere between 5 and 37%. we can determine the max,obviously it is under 37%, but I cannot be bothered if they can't. It is 15% "of which sugars" overall, which again obviously included naturally occurring stuff.

stampydmonkey

Great post rubadub!

cee_jay

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Just looking for an alternative to porridge as i'm not too keen on making it in the microwave in work every day.

Can you make your own muesli, is it just raw porridge oats mixed with fruits and nuts? Hmmm i might google muesli recipes.

You could have overnight oats - still your plain porridge oats but it cuts out the need to make it in the microwave in work every day.
Or make your porridge in a slow cooker overnight and bring it with you in a thermos.

igCorcaigh

Thanks rubadub, informative post. I thought that reddy brek had white flour added, must have been oat flour. I always thought it tasted like wallpaper paste though. Hence the derogatory label.

rubadub

Forgot to mention the other common trick, they use loads of different types of sugar so they can be listed individually, and can often appear further down the list. Ingredients are listed in order of greatest.

here is tesco crunchy nut cornflakes

Maize, Brown Sugar, Peanuts (8%), Sugar, Dextrose, Salt, Honey (0.6%), Caramelised Sugar Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Iron, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12.

All those in bold are basically sugar, so it is feasible that if they just used plain old sugar it would be the main ingredient and have to be listed first. If they had used more syrup or some other type of sugar they could have knocked peanuts up to second place, so it might appear relatively OK, if you compared it to an almost identical packet where sugar was listed 2nd.

this is kelloggs crunchy nut

Maize, Sugar, Peanuts (7.5%), Barley Malt Flavouring, Molasses, Honey (1%), Salt, Vitamin & Minerals: Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12

Again the ones in bold are basically sugar, carbs are 35% "of which are sugar"

Below is sugar puffs, though they have actually dramatically reduced the sugar content, I think it was over 50% at one stage (not added but overall). I am not sure about "soluble gluco fibre", first time I saw the term

Wheat (57%), Glucose Syrup, Sugar (13%), Soluble Gluco Fibre, Honey (3.6%), Sunflower Oil, Caramelised Sugar Syrup, Molasses, Niacin, Iron, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1)

The cynic in me thinks they have used a sneaky trick, since unusually they do list the sugar %. So somebody not familiar with labellings might glance and think "oh look, sugar puffs are 13% sugar, that is not so bad", as they may have heard other cereals like all bran are 18%. i.e. mixing up the ingredients listing % with the overall sugar content on the nutritional info. A mere 57% is actually wheat.

Jjjjjjjbarry

Hi rubadub,

What do you think of this Super Nutty Granola from Aldi?

Ingredients:
Oat flakes (54%), Mixed Nuts (16%) (Cashew nut pieces, Flaked brazil nuts, Almonds, Hazelnuts, Pecan nut pieces, Macadamia nuts, Pistachio nuts), Raw Cane Sugar, Rapeseed oil, Toasted coconut chips (3%), Dessicated coconut, Acacia honey (1.5%), Black treacle, Pumpkin seeds (1%), Sunflower seeds (1%), Linseeds (1%)

caviardreams

You really need to look at the nutritional breakdown to see the % of sugar per 100g - from the ingredients alone you cannot tell how much cane sugar is in it - just that it is somewhere between 16% and 3%, and then there is the 1.5% honey as well, and probably similar for the treacle. You really need to look at all the sources that sugar comes from and not just "sugar".

beechwood55

We use Dorset Cereals Simply Delicious Muesli.
https://www.dorsetcereals.co.uk/things-we-make/product/simply-delicious-muesli/

rubadub

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Hi rubadub,

What do you think of this Super Nutty Granola from Aldi?

Ingredients:
Oat flakes (54%), Mixed Nuts (16%) (Cashew nut pieces, Flaked brazil nuts, Almonds, Hazelnuts, Pecan nut pieces, Macadamia nuts, Pistachio nuts), Raw Cane Sugar, Rapeseed oil, Toasted coconut chips (3%), Dessicated coconut, Acacia honey (1.5%), Black treacle, Pumpkin seeds (1%), Sunflower seeds (1%), Linseeds (1%)

as said you really need the breakdown. Most muesli tends to be very calorific too. A small amount of oats will expand out into a big bowl of porridge, with no added sugar or highly calorific nuts & dried fruit. So you really have to watch the portion sizes if worried about weight. I remember I was eating up to 1000kcal in a large bowl, when milk was included.

You have to watch out for "no added sugar muesli" too. Check out flanhavans sugar free hi-8

Ingredients

Wholegrain Cereals (61%) (Wholegrain Rolled Oats, Wheat Flakes, Rye Flakes), Dried Fruit (32%) (Raisins (Raisins, Sunflower Oil), Apricots (Apricots, Rice Flour, Sulphur Dioxide), Chopped Dates (Dates, Rice Flour), Seeds (5%) (Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds), Oat Flour

21% carbs which sugar, this from all that dried fruit


some old threads on portions

rubadub wrote: »

Alpen is 23.1% sugar.

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=254853655





If you are going to continue eating alpen then at least try weighing it once.


This guy did weigh out a recommended 45g serving.



I guess they used an egg cup on the box photo.

rubadub wrote: »

On the left is a typical quoted size on the side of muesli packets. The right is what people would typically pour out



typical on the front of a packet




If using a photo I would like to see them legally obliged to use the quoted portion size

bluecherry74

Kellogg's do a "no added sugar" granola which is very nice. The sweetness comes from banana and date puree and it's relatively low in sugar than other brands - 12g per 100g.

Ingredients
Cereals (67%) (Wholegrain Barley Flakes {28%}, Oats {24%}, Whole Rye {14%}, Wheat Flour, Oat Flour), Date Paste (15%), Sunflower Oil, Nuts (5%) (Cashew, Almonds), Banana Puree, Coconut (2%), Natural Flavourings, Barley Malt Extract, Salt

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=299474650

Boardnashea

Recently I have been having Jumbo Oats soaked in milk for the time it takes me to shower in the morning. Lovely, very different to porridge, sweet enough as is. It can be enhanced with a spoon of honey, maple, chopped apple,nuts, yogurt... etc.

I understand muesli is raw oats based and granola is a toasted version. I make a a granola type dessert topping in a frying pan...

Toast a pan of oats until starting to brown.
Add seeds/nuts as desired and toast on - lots of stirring.
Add a few knobs of butter and a couple of tbl spoons sugar, cook until sugar butter melt and dispersed then take off heat and allow to cool completely before storing.
Enjoy

Ronanc1

I find the Aldi granola's pretty good, they do a berry one and a nutty one. Now being granola by nature they've got a good bit of sugar but I think on cursory glance against others available in Tesco etc they came out on top ( ie not nearly as much sugar or saturated fat). I suppose portion control is really the main thing trying to weigh out at least what the servings are on the box and so on or as others mentioned cut a portion with some dry oats to stretch it.

For myself when I take it to work and have it as part of my break I bring a small amount in a container and eat it with greek yogurt - the thing is I'm usually pretty satiated by the small amount I bring. But if I were to contrast this with eating it at home I could probably eat double or triple the portion size and would! That's why I think portion control is probably the most important for something like this.

Jjjjjjjbarry

Problem with granola is that it's the only breakfast cereal where you're at risk of ending up like someone from those old crunchie nut cornflakes adds and keep eating even if the walls are falling down around you! It's probably too nice versus it's health rating.

zell12

Kelloggs have a Try Me Free granola offer
various flavours ~ €4.29 in Tesco

tampopo

zell12 wrote: »

Kelloggs have a Try Me Free granola offer
various flavours ~ €4.29 in Tesco

Doesn't say the price per kilo/volume on packet. Hard to say if it's good value, imo

rubadub

tampopo wrote: »

Doesn't say the price per kilo/volume on packet. Hard to say if it's good value, imo

? tesco show price per kilos, branded cereals like these are rarely good value!

Qualifying promotional boxes are as follows;
W.K. Kellogg No Added Sugar Granola, Simply 570g
W.K. Kellogg No Added Sugar Granola, Coconut, Cashew & Almond 570g
W.K. Kellogg No Added Sugar Granola, Coco & Hazelnut 550g
W.K. Kellogg No Added Sugar Granola, Raspberry, Apple & Carrot 500g

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=kellogs%20no%20added%20sugar%20granola